


39 Meteorites

by cherrylng



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Astronomy, Established Relationship, Fluff, Freddie Mercury Lives, HIV/AIDS, Introspection, M/M, Modern Era, space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 21:08:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20414335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrylng/pseuds/cherrylng
Summary: "Imagine we wake up tomorrow and nothing’s happenedThink of what we’ll never knowOne night of love, and I'm one full of doubt"Whenever the song comes to this part of the lyrics, Brian cannot help but feel melancholic. Freddie had once asked him about it. Of why the theory of multiple alternate universes caught his fascination.The truth of it is that the core that drives it is curiosity.





	39 Meteorites

**Author's Note:**

> I have long been inspired by Yann Tiersen's song "Meteorites" ever since I first listened to it and always wanted to write something with it. There were a few iterations before I settled down with this one as the story to write down and complete. 
> 
> Enjoy and comment!

Brian checks and rechecks that his telescope is set in position. And checks that his phone’s camera app is on and set to video recording mode. Tonight is a special night that he has been waiting for. He was worried that the timing may not be perfect, as it tends to be when all things related to astronomy are involved.   
  
Then, it comes, and he no longer worries whether or not that he had gotten the date and time wrong as much as he worries about missing out on the whole view. He times and counts the number of meteorites streaking across the dark skies, eyes sparkling in awe at the lights streaking across the sky. They were quick, but Brian got most if not all of them counted for. If he is not sure, then his smartphone had recorded it via the telescope.  
  
He checks his phone had caught all of the meteorites and he counts them down. It took a few replays to get an accurate estimate.  
  
Thirty-nine meteorites. It is an impressive number and one that he will post on Instagram soon. Seeing the number of meteorites that he had just seen reminds him of a song. Two actually. One is his own, the other is from another artist.   
  
Thinking about the songs and the meteorites compelled Brian to open another app on his phone and pick a song to listen to, one that was introduced to him years ago by another musician.  
  
_“So here we are under London's glass_  
_ And granite arms as they reach for the half-moon_  
_ Me a blood of boldness and booze_  
_ And the rusty heart polka-dot breeze of you_  
_ Stands stuck to the street in cool shoes"_  
  
When Brian first heard this song, he took a huge liking to it. The music is whimsical, with a feeling of elegance in its simplicity. When he closes his eyes and listens to the lyrics as he lets the soothing voice of the Scottish man wash over him and pull him into his imagination by the narration.  
  
The night skies are clear. The temperature is cool but not chilly. The only sound Brian can hear is from the song playing from the speaker of his phone. It feels almost perfect.  
  
_“We drift up into the sky_  
_ And look down on the boy and the girl_  
_ As they become tiny specks on the London street_  
_ We pull away farther and father_  
_ Until London's gone, England’s gone, Europe's gone_  
_ Now we’re in space_  
_ Watching the Earth as the sun rises behind it"_  
  
_“Satellites orbit by_  
_ A billion stars surround us_  
_ We float over the moon"_  
  
Brian wonders how it would be like to be like the astronauts in the International Space Station, to have the privilege to look out the window and see the planet Earth below them as they orbit the planet, and the sun is peeking out from behind at certain times of their day. It must be such a beautiful sight that not even the pictures that they have taken can fully compare to what their own eyes have seen.  
  
_“Imagine we wake up tomorrow and nothing’s happened_  
_ Think of what we’ll never know_  
_ One night of love, and I'm one full of doubt"_  
  
Whenever the song comes to this part of the lyrics, Brian cannot help but feel melancholic.  
  
Freddie had once asked him about it. Of why the theory of multiple alternate universes caught his fascination.  
  
The truth of it is that the core that drives it is curiosity.  
  
If there are an infinite number of universes, then it was just as likely that there are an infinite number of alternative universes. There are so many variables that if Brian were to travel to an alternate universe and meet that universe’s version of himself, it would be like meeting a stranger wearing his face for no two Brian May’s are the same due to luck, happenstance, choices, or the combination of all three. Their paths are all different from one another.  
  
He had wondered for more than a few times if there are versions of himself, living their own lives that are different from one another. Have they chose to become a musician like Brian himself did or did they chose to keep on with their studies to eventually become a professor at a University or an astrophysicist? Or none of the above?  
  
He also wonders on simpler, more human matters. Have they found love like he did? And if so, did some of them ended up being with Freddie like he did? Or did they find a nice lady to settle down with instead and have children?  
  
And then comes that inevitable question: How many versions of Freddie are still alive at this day and age?  
  
It is a grim thought, but one that came from what he had experienced. Brian remembered the day when Freddie told him that he has HIV. Back then, to have HIV often meant that that was immediately followed by AIDS, and it felt as though they found Freddie was sentenced to be put into death row.  
  
Brian remembers the quarrels and fights that came after between him and Freddie, of how the consequences of Freddie’s wild lifestyle had finally caught up to the singer. He also remembers the tearful console between each other, for the consequences from that lifestyle _have_ finally caught up to Freddie and both of them are afraid of the future ahead of them.   
  
When the medical results came back to show that Freddie is actually HIV-negative, it was a relief. That Freddie _can recover_ and that he was not going to get AIDS. When they were home, safe in the privacy of their bedroom, is when Freddie finally allows himself to cry. To cry from grief and relief. To cry from the stress that had held him down and is finally lifted off of him. Brian was crying as well, and they held each other while letting the tears run dry and their emotions fully released.  
  
Brian opens his eyes, having not noticed that he had closed them for some time, and looks up at the stars in the sky. He had set to listen to the song on repeat, so the song had played again and is now one minute into the six-minute length of the track.  
  
_“My yesterday is dead_  
_ The present's an illusion_  
_ And tomorrow is just a nightmare away"_  
  
Brian cannot help him but let out a huff. Those lines have pretty much described what it felt like back then when he was waiting with Freddie for the second medical examination result, before they were given the answer that Freddie would live on. Even if exaggerated, it did feel like he was living towards the end of the world during the bleakest period of his life.  
  
That episode changed Freddie. No, it changed the both of them. They have seen the incredible luck that Freddie had possessed to allow him to survive. They had seen the strength of the love they held for each other through that perilous time and they have come out stronger.   
  
If the story and the diagnosis was different, would life have been different? Brian feels a twinge of sadness at that, especially to the other Brian May’s who love Freddie like he does and would have to live through that loss.  
  
He remembers during his darkest times, when his thoughts become nightmarish and come to attack him with ‘what ifs’. What if he himself had been the one to contract that deadly disease? That he himself had been the one to be diagnosed with HIV and AIDS instead of Freddie? Being unable to live with Freddie is one thing, but how would Freddie could have coped with Brian being gone, much less the band overall?   
  
Brian cannot help thinking about such thoughts, even after so many years, it was something from the morbid part of his mind to imagine the other side of the coin. It is hard to banish it.  
  
“You really love this song, don’t you, Brian?”  
  
Brian is startled from his thoughts by that amused yet familiar voice. He smiles when he turns around, seeing Freddie by the doorway with his arms crossed.  
  
“It’s like listening to poetry without the singing. It’s beautiful,” Brian answers. He takes his phone and pauses the music. “Why are you up at this hour?” he asks, curious.  
  
“It’s almost time.”  
  
“Time for what?”  
  
Freddie gives a roll of eyes at him, his smile is one of fondness and exasperation.  
  
“Time to feed the hungry little babes. You know how fussy and cranky they get at us for even being five minutes late to bring their bottle.”  
  
Brian lets out a chuckle, knowing what Freddie meant.  
  
“They sure are.”  
  
Brian gets up, accepting Freddie’s hand to pull himself up as they leave the back garden. The gold ring on Freddie’s ring finger glinting under the artificial light coming from their house as they go towards the nursery room.  
  
It is funny how years ago, when Brian took to being an active conservationist for the local wildlife in Britain, that Freddie was apprehensive of being near wild animals and wanted nothing to do with it. Now the old singer remembers the timetable of when the baby animals needed feeding or cleaning and he is the one who finds it difficult to part from them once they have grown old enough to be released and fend for themselves in the wild.  
  
When Brian sits down with a warm bottle of milk in hand and sees Freddie tending to the baby foxes, cooing with delight and feeding them milk like an attentive mother, he cannot help but smile.  
  
“I saw and counted thirty nine meteorites out there tonight,” Brian starts, picking up one of the hungry baby foxes and starts to feed on the bottle once it got its mouth attached to the teat.  
  
“That sounds amazing! What was it like?” Freddie asked, which lets Brian to talk and express the excitement of what he had witnessed tonight. Brian feels happy and content, the melancholic feeling that he has had just moments ago no longer have a hold to his heart.  
  
Here they are, as two old men, having not lived through a perfect life, but they have been through a lot to reach where they are. Even with an infinite number of alternative universes and an infinite number of ‘what ifs’, this is the very place that Brian wants to be in.


End file.
